Rotary screening drum for nail cleaning apparatus



Feb. 8, 1949. B. N. BL ETISO ET AL 2,461,366

ROTARY SCREENING DRUM FOR NAIL CLEANING APPARATUS Filed March 28, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F 0 .O 9 J, I 00Q000000000000000900000 00000000 000 0900, If j |O00OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 000 Q Feb-3,1949 B. N. BLETSO ETAL ROTARY SCREENING DRUM FOR NAIL CLEANING APPARATUS FiledMar0h28,1944

' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0 ooooa oooowu 00, 000000000 00 00000000000 0 00000000000 00 0 00000 0000000 0 000 000 00 0 000 00 00 ohm 0 00 00 000 0 0 00 00 v 00 000 0000 000 000 0 00 0000 000000000 0%\ 000 000 0 00 00000 000 00 0000 00000000000000 0 000000 0 000000 0 0 0000 UOOO0 00000000000000MOOOOOO 00 0 00 Q 00 oooo \mi \0 w 00 O O O O O 0% v m:h

0 [men/02:9: 5,9005 A! 452E750 4/74 7 W/u/a/v Patented Feb. 8, 1949 ROTARY SCREENING DRUM Fon NAIL CLEANING APPARATUS Bruce N. Bletso, East Cleveland, and William Thompson, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignors to The American Steel and Wire Company of New Jersey, a corporation of New Jersey Application March 28, 1944, Serial No. 528,471

Claims. 1

This invention relates to nail cleaning apparatus of the rotary-drum type and, in particular, to a tumbling drum having perforated areas spaced circumferentially thereof and a plurality of inwardly projecting pegs arranged in rows and adapted to engage the mass of nails being tumbled within the drum so as to counteract their tendency to slide across said areas in a mass, and thereby to prevent bending of the nails. 7

The present invention is based upon our discovery that by equipping a foraminous drum with a plurality of rows of inwardly-projecting tapered pegs, the tendency of the nails to slide across the perforations is reduced. The invention'thus eliminates the objectionable bending of the nails, thereby increasing the overall efficiency of the cleaning apparatus by reducing the percentage of defective nails.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a nail cleaning apparatus to which the present invention is peculiarly Well suited.

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the screening drum shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectionalview on line III-III of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail of a portion of a foraminous drum equipped with pegs in accordance with our invention.

Figure 5 is a section on line V-V of Figure 4.

Referring in detail to the drawings, l0 represents a guide chute adapted to deliver nails to a hollow cleaning or tumbling cylinder l2 which is rotatably mounted on supporting rollers I 4 adapted to be driven by a pinion l6 meshing with a ring gear l8.

The nails to be cleaned are dumped in batches through the chute l0 and mixed with a suitable quantity of sawdust.

The tumbling action occurring on rotation of the cylinder combined with the cleansing action of the sawdust tends to rid the nails of whiskers and grease or other lubricants which they carry over from the wire drawing operations or nail forming operations.

After being tumbled in the drum I2, the nails are discharged therefrom by opening a closure member 20. This permits the nails to fall to a chute 22 which delivers them to a central opening 24 formed in the frusto-conical wall 26 constituting part of one head 28 of a screening drum 30. This screening drum is in the nature of a cylindrical foraminous plate or shell having a multiplicity of small openings 32 therethrough in circumferentially spaced areas thereof so as to provide escape for the sawdust or other cleaning agent. We have found that in treating nails according to prior practice in such a screening drum there is a tendency for some of the nails to pass partly through the openings 32, whereupon other nails sliding around the drum in a matted mass'strike them with the result that sufficient force is exerted at times to bend the nails sticking into the openings 32. In accordance with the present invention, to overcome such objectionable bending of the nails being cleaned, We provide a plurality of substantially conical pegs 34 which project inwardly from the foraminous plate 30. These pegs can be secured by various means. As shown in the drawings, each peg 34 is'provided with a shank 36 entering one of the perforations, and is firmly secured by a welded joint 38. Practice has demonstrated that it is desirable to provide a plurality of rows of pegs 34, as suggested in Figures 4 and 5, the pegs in adjacent rows being in staggered relation, as shown in Figure 2.

On the interior of the drum 30 there is usually provided a pair of spiral fins 4B which terminate at the lower ends in alignment with walls 42 of scoop-like members 44 formed integral with the outer conical wall 46 of the end head 48. The discharge of nails from the screening drum 30 is under the control of a gate member 50 adapted to be actuated by a suitable power device coacting with a shaft 52 through connections forming no part of the present invention.

Overlying the perforated portions of the wall of drum 30 there are secured longitudinally-extending plates 54 held by suitable bolts or other fastening devices 56. As the drum rotates, the sawdust or other cleaning agent escapes through the many openings 32 into the spaces between the exterior of the drum and the said plates 54, and the rotary motion of the drum causes the sawdust or other cleaning agent to fall into a collector casing 58 having a hopper portion 60 which is connected to a duct 62 leading to a suitable discharge point (not shown).

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of the invention which actual experience has demonstrated to be very effective in reducing the sliding of masses of nails and preventing the bending thereof, what we desire to protect by Letters Patent is defined with particularity, to meet the requirements of the patent statutes, in the following claims.

We claim: 7

1. Nail cleaning apparatus of the character described, including a screening drum consisting of an annular shell having spaced foraminous areas separated by solid imperforate areas; a spiral fin crossing said solid and foraminous areas and proie i inw rdlyfa lura of i wardl ext n ing pegs arranged in separate rows, some of the rows being in the imperforate areas and others being in the ioraminous areas the pegs in the foraminous areas being staggered with relation to those in the imperforate areas, said pegs being adapted to engage masses of nails being handled and thus to limit the sliding thereof 2. Nail cleaning apparatus oi the character described, comprising a screening drum consisting of a substantially cylindrical shell having spaced foraminous areas separated by imperforate areas, arcuate plates secured in spaced relation to the exterior of the shell in the region of the foraminous areas, and a plurality of inwardly projecte ing pegs arranged in substantially parallel rows, the; pegs in one row being arranged in staggered relati n s; hose Q mailman row, m f d rows being in the imperforate areas of the shell a d others e ng. in he ramino s eas thereof.

The appa a us o a m 2. in which h P s have shanks defined by reduced diameter extending through perforations in said shell the butt ends of the pegs being integrated with the shell by we d d i int 4- Ne l c an n appa at emnr s ne' generally cylindrical drum having foraminous and imperforate wall portions alternating around the circumference thereof, and a plurality of pegs projecting inwardly cf the drum and spaced along abutting edges of said portions, adapted to engage masses of nails on rotation of the drum and limit s i in h reof.

5. The apparatus defined by claim 4 characterized by additional pegs spaced along the perfoate Wa p rti BRUCE N. BLETSO. WILLIAM THOMPSON.

CES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 15,544 Bradford Aug. 12, 1856 259,835 Farrell -g June 29,, 1882 631,133 Starks Aug. 15, 1899 741,136 Hurst Oct. 13, 1903 754,122 Buchlin Mar. 8., 1.904 843,466 Krickbaum Feb. 5, 190'? 830,071 Wilson, Nov. 5, 1907 2,299,032 Ranshofi Oct. 13, 1942 2,374,945 Niederer May 1, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date.

13,49 Great Britain v e r 1915v 

